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MADRID -- A Spanish court has acquitted a 28-year-old concert pianist on charges of causing
noise pollution and psychological damage to a neighbor.

The court in northeastern Girona absolved professional pianist Laia Martin and her parents of
both charges, according to a written ruling issued yesterday.

The trial this month caused a storm of ridicule and disbelief when prosecutors sought a
sentence of seven years. They later reduced this to 20 months.

Martin's neighbor, Sonia Bonsom, complained the pianist practiced five days a week for eight
hours at a time between 2003 and 2007 in an apartment building in the nearby town of Puigcerda.
Bonsom told the court she now hated pianos so much she can't even stand to see them in movies.

The court said it found Bonsom's claims unreliable and exaggerated. It said there was no
proof that Martin's playing surpassed the 30-decibel limit laid down for musical instruments in the
town - as the prosecution claimed - or that the playing was the direct cause of Bonsom's problems.

Martin's parents were attached to the case when they carried out soundproofing work twice,
but this failed to quell Bonsom's complaints.